Applied Economics/2024-03pr
Utah Fruit Grower Assessment Results Overview Makaylie Langford, USU Extension Intern, Department of Applied Economics Kynda Curtis, Professor and USU Extension Specialist, Department of Applied Economics
Introduction
Utah boasts a rich history of fruit production, from the establishment of orchards by early settlers for personal and community use to the emergence of a thriving commercial fruit-growing industry in the early 1900s. This heritage is commemorated annually through various festivals across the state, such as Brigham City’s Peach Days held in August and Pleasant Grove’s Strawberry Days celebration in the spring (Doyle, 2021; Powell & Wood, 1995, pp. 207–208). Visitors to the state can visit the “Famous Fruit Way” that runs along I-15 from Willard to Perry in northern Utah and the sprawling orchards that hug the I-15 freeway near Payson and Santaquin in Utah County (Doyle, 2021). In Utah’s early pioneer days, pioneer leaders encouraged settlers to plant fruit and were anxious to prove that a variety of crops could thrive in the region (Powell & Wood, 1995). In the late 1800s, farmers began to take surplus fruit into the cities and market their crops to grocers (Powell & Wood, 1995). Today, locally grown fruit contributes significantly to Utah’s economy (O’Donoghue, 2023; National Agricultural Statistics Service [NASS], 2023). Tart cherries, the state’s largest fruit crop, were valued at $5.6 million in 2022, spread across nearly 20 commercial producers around the state (O’Donoghue, 2023; NASS, 2023). Fruit growers throughout Utah manage operations of varying sizes and sell their fruit products fresh or processed through various direct-to-consumer and wholesale markets. To better understand the fruit products under production and current marketing methods, as well as grower concerns and future business interests, researchers conducted an online survey via Qualtrics in early winter 2023. The survey was introduced at the January 2023 annual fruit growers meeting, and the survey link was distributed to fruit growers via the association email list serve. Sixteen 1 usable responses were collected and evaluated, and those results are outlined in the following sections.
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In 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 691 fruit and nut farms in Utah (NASS, 2022). At a 90% confidence level with a 20% margin of error, a sample size of 17 is representative.
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